Male Rowers Research Articles

Effect of Hand Position on Knee Extension and Knee Flexion Torques of Intercollegiate Rowers

The purpose of this study was to determine if hand position: 1) grasping the test table and 2) grasping the pelvic strap, combined with stabilization via pelvic and distal thigh straps, affected knee extension and flexion torques of intercollegiate athletes. Eighteen male rowers (sweep oarsmen) completed three reciprocal contraction cycles using a 160 degrees /sec knee extension, 0.25 sec pause, and 80 degrees /sec knee flexion protocol. This protocol simulated the knee movements during rowing at about 27 strokes per minute. The order of presenting the hand positions was randomly assigned and a dependent t-test was used to compare hand positions. No statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed between the peak torques produced when grasping the test table and when grasping the pelvic strap, during either knee extension (203 +/- 29 Nm and 207 +/- 26 Nm, respectively) or knee flexion (145 +/- 15 Nm and 149 +/- 18 Nm, respectively). When the knee extensors and flexors of relatively strong individuals are tested in the sitting position and while using a pelvic strap to secure the pelvis to the test table, the subjects may be given the option of grasping either the test table or the pelvic strap without significantly affecting their subsequent knee extension or flexion torques. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1990;11(8):367-371.

Physique Characteristics of Pan American Games Lightweight Rowers

The emergence of lightweight rowing as an international sport has made the optimization of physique within the weight restrictions a matter of primary importance in selection and training of the participants. The occasion of the Xth Pan American Games provided opportunity to obtain comprehensive anthropometric data on 20 male and 13 female lightweight rower finalists including most of the medal winners. Anthropometric characteristics, somatotype, and proportionality profiles showed the male rowers to be similar in most aspects to a student control sample, with the exception of short sitting height and large transverse chest breadth. The females, on the other hand, appeared to be very different from the control sample, having a number of characteristics similar to those of Olympic rowers. The female lightweight rowers also uniquely demonstrated two distinct physique prototypes.

Kinetics of heart rate responses to exercise.

In order to describe the kinetics of the reaction of the heart rate (HR) to the onset of exercise of constant intensity, the half-time (t1/2) of HR can be used. First in a study of exercise of intensity corresponding to 2 W kg-1 on a cycle ergometer, the t1/2 in 15 trained male rowers and 11 untrained male students was determined. In the trained subjects t1/2 was smaller than in untrained students, mean (+/- S.D.) values being 24.10 (+/- 3.36) s and 47.12 (+/- 4.08) s respectively. In both groups t1/2 was positively correlated with resting HR, r = 0.774 and 0.846 and negatively correlated with maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), r = -0.728 and -0.871 respectively (P less than 0.01). The regulation of HR in the transition range was concluded to be very similar to the regulation of VO2 and energy requirements. The second part of this work was concerned with responses to graded exercise. The linearity of the HR-exercise intensity relationship is maintained up to a submaximal exercise intensity beyond which the increase in exercise intensity exceeds the increase in HR. It was hypothesized that the point where HR departs from linearity in an incremental exercise test may be employed as a predictor of the ventilatory threshold (Tvent). To examine this, 28 trained male long-distance runners were tested on a treadmill and 17 untrained young male subjects were tested on a cycle ergometer using a continuous incremental protocol. The Tvent was determined from the dependence of VE on VO2 and/or VCO2. The VO2, HR and exercise intensity at Tvent were compared with the same parameters determined from the dependence of HR on exercise intensity. No significant differences were found between Tvent and HR break point levels. It was concluded from this second study that the HR break point level coincides with Tvent.

Reduction of lung elasticity due to training and expiratory flow limitation during exercise in competitive female rowers.

Lung elasticity and lung volumes at rest were measured in 22 female rowers, in 14 women who just started with rowing, in 21 female cyclists, and in 9 male rowers. The female rowers had a higher specific static and dynamic lung compliance (P less than 0.01) and a lower recoil pressure at functional residual capacity (P less than 0.05) as compared to the other three groups. According to their age, height, and fat-free mass, the female rowers had a normal vital capacity. The residual volume, the functional residual capacity, and the fast expiratory volume in 1 s were also normal. During an increased load test till exhaustion on a bicycle ergometer, the transpulmonary pressure and the expiratory flow were measured. While the expiratory transpulmonary pressure at exhaustion in the female rowers was not markedly lower than in the other groups, expiratory flow did not increase linearly with decreasing expiratory transpulmonary pressure in most of the female rowers. In the other three groups, there was a linear relation between expiratory flow and pressure. The higher lung compliance and lower elastic recoil in the female rowers caused the flow-limiting pressure to be reached at a lower level. The difference in lung elasticity between the male and female rowers showed that the physical stress on the lungs during rowing is not alike in women and men. We assume that the typical female physique requires extra fixation of the trunk during the pull phase of the rowing stroke, which could lead to loss of lung elasticity in female rowers.

Effect of slightly lowered body temperatures on endurance performance in humans.

Eight well-trained male rowers exercised as hard as possible on a bicycle ergometer for 60 min at an ambient temperature of 18 degrees C. On 1 day (precooling test, PRET) exercise was preceded by a double cold exposure that caused starting body temperatures to be approximately 4.5, 1.0, 0.8, and 0.4 degrees C (mean skin, mean body, tympanic, and esophageal temperatures, respectively) lower than in the control test (CONT). In PRET the mean 1-h work rate (172 W) was 6.8% larger than in CONT (161 W), O2 uptake (Vo2) was 9.6% higher (2.86 vs. 2.61 1 X min-1), and O2 pulse was increased by 5.6% (18.8 vs. 17.8 ml), whereas the sweat rate was 20.3% lower in PRET (1.06 vs. 1.33 mg X cm-2.min-1). No differences in heart rate, efficiency, postexercise blood values of lactate, or acid-base status were demonstrated. It appears that the improved performance in PRET was related to an increased O2 supply to the working muscles. Although plasma levels of total beta H-endorphin immunoreactivity were in the same range under both test conditions, different components of beta H-endorphin immunoreactivity were indicated to exist in PRET and CONT.

Assessment of maximal aerobic power in specifically trained athletes.

Maximal aerobic power of 37 athletes (14 females and ten male cross-country skiers, eight male rowers and five male cyclists) was determined during uphill running on the treadmill and during maximal performance of their specific sport activity. For the skiers a significantly (P less than 0.005) higher VO2max was found during uphill skiing than during running, the differences being 2.9 and 3.1% for the females and males, respectively. The rowers and cyclists obtained a difference of 4.2 and 5.6%, respectively (P less than 0.01). The largest individual differences between the two test procedures were 12.2, 5.4, 14.3, and 7.9% for female and male cross-country skiers, rowers, and cyclists, respectively. It is concluded that in evaluation of maximal aerobic power of atheletes, it becomes important to select a work situation which allows optimal use of the specifically trained muscle fibres. This means that the test preferably should be identical with the subjects' specific sport activity, under the assumption that a reasonably large muscle mass is engaged during the performance.